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“Sure.” He didn’t buy that bullshit for a second. “What’d it do to you?”
“Nothing when I held it, but then the little shit tried to blind me when I went to cut a sample—”
“Explain.” No way would he let whatever lurked in that safe out until he knew his mate would be safe. No matter if his sister insisted it hadn’t attacked until she’d threatened it.
“Fine.” Alys sprawled in the wingback chair like he had asked her to recite the kingdom’s entire government code in another language. “The not-so-crazy author claimed he received a piece of the goddess’s veil for his devotion. He drew an illustration in the book.Thatscrap matches the pattern, and it’s already been torn so I don’t know why it got so defensive. I only wanted a tiny piece to test.”
“Why test it?” Joelle asked. “What’s worth risking its destruction? Even if it is the veil, we don’t have anything you can compare it to for authentication.”
He didn’t like the calculating look in his sister’s eyes. “No,” he said. “To whatever you’re thinking.”
“Come on.” Alys wouldn’t back down. “A simple DNA match between your mate and the veil could be our one shot at establishing a scientific link between Joelle and a goddess. If she knows where she came from, she’ll have a better shot at controlling any new magic that pops up. I just need a cutting and some of Joelle’s DNA.”
“I’ll do it.” His mate’s agreement twisted his heart.
The determination and resignation in her voice? How could he argue with that when refusing her would mean denying her a chance to find out where she came from. He swallowed his sigh. “How do we make sure the two of you stay safe while trying to obtain a sample from a magical artefact?”
“Roman.” Alys’s answer came so quickly that she must’ve anticipated his question.
“The guard from downstairs?” Joelle asked. “The one with the scars in his eyebrows?” She made the marks sound like badges of honor, but then she probably considered them that when she had her own small ones that she hadn’t been able to heal. “What does he have to do with the veil?”
Alexei answered for his sister. “He’s a magic eater. If the veil initiates a magical defensive protocol, he will simply absorb the effects.”
“Wouldn’t that hurt him?” The reproach in her tone matched the concern in her gaze. “I’m proof of how dangerous light can be. I blinded you—however temporarily—on the ship, and I killed all those people.”
“You only offed Order operatives,” Alys clarified. “Who tried to kill you and my brother. But to answer your question, we’ve hurled everything from mental magic to warp powers at Roman. Nothing seems to faze him. He complains of heartburn or a headache now and then, but I’m not sure if he’s telling the truth or just angling for sympathy points from the pretty medic we have on staff.”
Nope.Alexei wouldn’t touch that bit of staff gossip. He leaned to take out his phone while encouraging Joelle not to move off his lap, something he’d gotten adept at over the last week. “Roman? Can you come up?” He glanced at the box. “We wait until he gets here.”
“Fine, spoilsport.” His sister scrolled the screen again and looked to his mate. “On an unrelated topic, your dragon brother’s girlfriend drew this for us.”
A heavy collar like the ancient rulers of the witches would’ve worn before modern necklaces, the design seemed so plain, a ring that connected with two globes in the front at the hollow of the wearer’s throat. But simple didn’t mean safe.
“That the siphon that Noxx stole?” Joelle asked. “The one she says she’ll use to drain my magic like a battery to power whatever horror show she has in mind?”
Alexei’s gut rolled in response to her words. That insane woman would never have her hands on his mate again, and she wouldn’t be doing anything to Joelle’s powers. He would rip the human’s face off before that could happen. Anger rolled off him in waves, and he couldn’t stop the magic that swarmed to his skin, ready to defend her.
But then Joelle touched him. “It’ll be okay. She won’t get to me. You won’t let her.” With her trust in him, his rage faded to a fraction of what it’d been a moment before, leaving only a simmering desire for revenge. “Just promise me that we’ll find a way to save those children.”
“Promise,” he said, his voice rougher than he had intended.
A knock on the door cut off the conversation. “Boss?” Roman called from outside.
“I got it.” Alys practically leapt from the chair, her eagerness to open the box becoming contagious. She did a sixty-second rundown of what they needed from him. “Now can we open it?”
He eyed Roman. “We good?”
The guard nodded. “I would never let something harm your sister or mate.”
“I know,” Alexei said. He hadn’t meant to bruise the man’s ego, but damn it all, having either of these two women at risk made his blood pressure skyrocket. Flipping the latch with a clink of metal on metal, he opened the box, not surprised when nothing happened, since that matched what his sister had described earlier.
A beautiful cloth of twilight purple, dawn pink, and sky blue woven with metallic threads lay folded inside. It looked innocent enough, but he couldn’t help but hold a breath when Joelle leaned forward for a closer look. Her covetous gaze on the thing made him jealous, and he hated the feeling. He fought a snarl, reaching for the control that had served him so well before he met her.
Joelle stretched her hand toward the box, and he caught her wrist. “No, let me go first.” If anyone would be harmed by this strange magic, he’d rather it be him.
“It won’t hurt me,” she said. “Can’t you hear it?”
Powers that only she could hear? He didn’t want to guess at how horribly wrong this could go. “Roman? You sensing anything?”
